I go by the rule, don't judge it til you've played it. Just finished the game.. which I paid a ridiculous price for the collectors edition here in south east asia.
Things done well and not so well in no particular order.
Good:
-Fluid combat. I liked that VATS allowed me to pause and assess the situation. Closest to tactical combat in a real time environment i've encountered so far.
-Fighting side by side with the BoS. Canon aside, I would have to say... that was pretty cool.
-Looks good. The graphics are beautiful with the right rig. The art is spot on and are pretty convincing. Deathclaws in this game were all I imagined them to be.
-Sounds good. The pitter patter of molerat feet still scares me.
-Still has some funny moments/dialogue. Refer trade caravan: "Crazy wolfgang: I sell all the best of bla bla, junk .. and crap."
Not Good:
-VATS telling me i've a 60%++ shot and i shoot a dozen bullets for my queued shots into a nearby wall(which i could shoot past out of VATS).
-No groin shots. Potential for hilarity here.
-Relatively bad writing. Skill checks for dialogue few and when present, too transparent while lacking substance/depth. No incentive for high int/charisma. My friend created a character with 1 CHAR and he does pretty well.
-Leveling mechanism. This RUINED the game for me. Tagged skills does not help level the skill throughout the game and serves as a mini boost. "Tag!" perk is useless. I reached level 20 with 2 levels in swift learner in 15 hours of gameplay. Was boring at max level and still mediocre character as again... Tagged skill does not help increase skill point gain. Level 20 is too low a level cap. Fallout 1 & 2 had more skills and never got to this horrible point. After that, I went straight for the main quest so that I could end the game and stop the torture.
-No Traits. It used to be interesting to have characters with certain traits with advantage/disadvantages. Night person perk gave +2 Int and Per, but no disadvantages during the day. Soon everyone will go for the flawless "Ultimate build", which I could coach you into by now.
-Weapons damage. Why does a .32 pistol do so little damage in comparison to a hunting rifle when they use the same ammo? Does not make sense. Needs someone with decent knowledge of firearms/ballistics for Fallout 4.
-No incentive for melee combat. Ever tried chasing an evasive raider with a submachine gun only with your fists/knife in real time? Cannot aim body parts in VATS. Unarmed combat in Fallout 3 is Painful and Unrewarding.
-Ending cinematics/variation. Shoddy and Lazy.
-Barter/trade. There must be a wasteland merchant's union somewhere because everyone trades at the same prices. Boring!
-Very little interaction between the Factions. You would think you'd find plotlines between the Outcasts and the Brotherhood. Sadly, they co-exist in the Capitol Wasteland quite amicably as it seems. I thought I could get to the employers of Talon Company somehow.. I guess not in this game.
-Fast travel - Could make this a little more hazardous. Feels too safe without random encounters... and too fast (no indication of time spent).
-Weapon degradation was not fun at all. I could not use my "unique" Reservist and Victory rifles very much because they damage quickly and there were very few sniper rifles around to repair it with. Almost all NPC repairers were horrible and charge an arm and a leg. Good energy weapons were rare and coupled with weapon degradation and low damage... energy weapons sucked.
-Very few notable towns/cities. Little to do in towns/cities in game. Boring.
-Karma effect. As the "Last, best hope for Humanity" I did not feel like it. I still get the same measly 1 stimpack or a few caps from Megaton settlers that I used to get as a Guardian of the Wastes. Traders still think i'm a lousy trader and refuse to lower prices. Was kind of expecting people to kiss my shoes.. and then my footprints.
All things considered, Fallout 3 was not a disaster, I was genuinely hooked for a while. Comparing Fallout 3 and the first two Fallouts is like a fast food and a fine dining experience. All in all, Beth has good ideas that needs a lot more fine tuning.
Bethesda needs to understand what could be done better and they will start making truly memorable Fallout games. At the moment, it has all the flair and not enough substance and requires more creative muscle in their writing department and to put some more thought into the game mechanics.
Things done well and not so well in no particular order.
Good:
-Fluid combat. I liked that VATS allowed me to pause and assess the situation. Closest to tactical combat in a real time environment i've encountered so far.
-Fighting side by side with the BoS. Canon aside, I would have to say... that was pretty cool.
-Looks good. The graphics are beautiful with the right rig. The art is spot on and are pretty convincing. Deathclaws in this game were all I imagined them to be.
-Sounds good. The pitter patter of molerat feet still scares me.
-Still has some funny moments/dialogue. Refer trade caravan: "Crazy wolfgang: I sell all the best of bla bla, junk .. and crap."
Not Good:
-VATS telling me i've a 60%++ shot and i shoot a dozen bullets for my queued shots into a nearby wall(which i could shoot past out of VATS).
-No groin shots. Potential for hilarity here.
-Relatively bad writing. Skill checks for dialogue few and when present, too transparent while lacking substance/depth. No incentive for high int/charisma. My friend created a character with 1 CHAR and he does pretty well.
-Leveling mechanism. This RUINED the game for me. Tagged skills does not help level the skill throughout the game and serves as a mini boost. "Tag!" perk is useless. I reached level 20 with 2 levels in swift learner in 15 hours of gameplay. Was boring at max level and still mediocre character as again... Tagged skill does not help increase skill point gain. Level 20 is too low a level cap. Fallout 1 & 2 had more skills and never got to this horrible point. After that, I went straight for the main quest so that I could end the game and stop the torture.
-No Traits. It used to be interesting to have characters with certain traits with advantage/disadvantages. Night person perk gave +2 Int and Per, but no disadvantages during the day. Soon everyone will go for the flawless "Ultimate build", which I could coach you into by now.
-Weapons damage. Why does a .32 pistol do so little damage in comparison to a hunting rifle when they use the same ammo? Does not make sense. Needs someone with decent knowledge of firearms/ballistics for Fallout 4.
-No incentive for melee combat. Ever tried chasing an evasive raider with a submachine gun only with your fists/knife in real time? Cannot aim body parts in VATS. Unarmed combat in Fallout 3 is Painful and Unrewarding.
-Ending cinematics/variation. Shoddy and Lazy.
-Barter/trade. There must be a wasteland merchant's union somewhere because everyone trades at the same prices. Boring!
-Very little interaction between the Factions. You would think you'd find plotlines between the Outcasts and the Brotherhood. Sadly, they co-exist in the Capitol Wasteland quite amicably as it seems. I thought I could get to the employers of Talon Company somehow.. I guess not in this game.
-Fast travel - Could make this a little more hazardous. Feels too safe without random encounters... and too fast (no indication of time spent).
-Weapon degradation was not fun at all. I could not use my "unique" Reservist and Victory rifles very much because they damage quickly and there were very few sniper rifles around to repair it with. Almost all NPC repairers were horrible and charge an arm and a leg. Good energy weapons were rare and coupled with weapon degradation and low damage... energy weapons sucked.
-Very few notable towns/cities. Little to do in towns/cities in game. Boring.
-Karma effect. As the "Last, best hope for Humanity" I did not feel like it. I still get the same measly 1 stimpack or a few caps from Megaton settlers that I used to get as a Guardian of the Wastes. Traders still think i'm a lousy trader and refuse to lower prices. Was kind of expecting people to kiss my shoes.. and then my footprints.
All things considered, Fallout 3 was not a disaster, I was genuinely hooked for a while. Comparing Fallout 3 and the first two Fallouts is like a fast food and a fine dining experience. All in all, Beth has good ideas that needs a lot more fine tuning.
Bethesda needs to understand what could be done better and they will start making truly memorable Fallout games. At the moment, it has all the flair and not enough substance and requires more creative muscle in their writing department and to put some more thought into the game mechanics.
.